Only partially. The main reason he quit is because he was incredibly ineffective as a Speaker. Not just in the normal historical sense, I mean in the “what is good for the GOP” sense. He was completely unable to keep even basic spending bills on track. Despite repeatedly claiming he was “returning to regular order”, he never even came remotely close. He was a disaster on the fund raising side…a problem so huge that the current republican House fundraising apparatus is still in complete shambles. He oversaw the biggest defeat the GOP has ever suffered in modern times in the House…during a freaking midterm.
The fundraising problems are also what has caused the current disintegration of the NRA. There is very little doubt, in my mind at least, that Ryan.who has always despised raising money, not only knew that Russians were funneling money into GOP House races (the NRA is only the tip of that particular iceberg), but was complicit in making it happen. He hated raising money, was not good at it, and when some people showed up offering him and his caucus big money bags, he gladly said yes. The damning McCarthy audio tape of him, McCarthy and Scalise discussing the Russian money was the big flashing red arrow saying “LOOK HERE” to investigators, but sadly, they declined to follow up on it to the level it needs investigating. It did however, result in the NRA’s current financial problems, however.
To quote Holden C., “the phonies are coming in the goddam window” in this iteration of the GOP, but Paul R. is second only to Combover Caligula in this department.
Seriously – which leads to the next question: Why the fuck is Jody Woodruff so much as glancing at the idiot washed-up has-been, much less asking him a question as a journalist?
Oh. Right. I momentarily forgot. (bangs head on desk)
And yet he’s been hired at the University of Notre Dame. Figure that one out. Notre Dame considers itself an elite university. What would make them think this empty-minded failure has anything to teach college students?
Yep. The only remaining question is whether he’s a True Believer or a True Charlatan. I tend towards the latter, especially given such things as the Soup Kitchen Fiasco.
